Trader - Hedge fund

Dagen; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Dagen in Dallas seeks a Trading Associate to support the head trader across execution, PM coverage, risk analytics, and desk technology on a multi-portfolio long/short equity platform focused on TMT and Healthcare. This seat sits at the intersection of investment teams and the market.

You will execute orders, monitor risk in real time, and build tooling in Python and SQL. AI tools will be used to synthesize market color and automate workflows, offering breadth across markets and a path to

Qualifications

• 3–5 years trading or execution experience at buy‑side or sell‑side desks.
• Demonstrated execution judgment across varying liquidity conditions.
• Proficiency with AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT) for coding, analysis and automation.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong communication abilities.

Responsibilities

• Execute equity, ETF, options, and futures orders across portfolios.
• Monitor intraday risk and factor exposures; collaborate with PMs.
• Build desk tooling in Python and SQL; automate reporting and analytics.
• Use AI workflows to generate market color and streamline processes.

Skills

Execution judgment

AI tools usage

Advanced Excel

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Tools

Python

SQL

Job description

The firm is seeking a Trading Associate to support the head trader across all day-to-day responsibilities of a multi-portfolio long/short equity platform focused on TMT and Healthcare. The role spans execution, PM coverage, market color, risk and factor analytics, and desk technology. This is a hands-on seat supporting an experienced head trader, with direct exposure to portfolio managers and a clear path to greater responsibility.

This seat is for a trader who wants breadth. You will sit at the intersection of the investment teams and the market — implementing ideas efficiently, keeping PMs informed, watching risk in real time, and building the tools that make the desk faster and smarter.

Execution & Trading

• Execute equity, ETF, options, and futures orders across multiple portfolios, selecting venues and algorithms appropriate to order size, urgency, and liquidity conditions
• Identify and evaluate actionable syndicate events — IPOs, secondaries, lock-up expiries, and distributions — as sources of incremental alpha
• Cultivate sell-side and prime broker relationships to source differentiated color, natural liquidity, and opportunistic blocks
• Serve as a daily point of contact for Portfolio Managers on execution strategy, positioning, and market structure — helping translate investment decisions into well‑executed trades
• Synthesize and distribute market color to investment teams: macro and single-stock catalysts, institutional positioning and flows, factor and cross-asset trends, and their portfolio implications
• Contribute to idea generation and ad-hoc analytical projects alongside PMs and the investment team
• Monitor factor exposures and market risk intraday across multiple risk models (e.g., Barra, Arcana), partnering with PMs to address outsized or unintended positioning
• Own recurring transaction cost analysis (TCA), working with PMs and brokers to measure execution quality and refine algo and broker selection

Desk Technology & Automation

• Build and maintain desk tooling — automated reporting, execution analytics, and monitoring — in Python and SQL
• Incorporate LLM-based workflows (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT) for research synthesis, market color generation, and process automation

Requirements

• 3–5 years of trading or execution experience at a buy‑side firm or sell‑side desk, with working knowledge of cash equities, options, and futures
• Demonstrated execution judgment across varying liquidity conditions — algo selection, order pacing, and impact management
• Proficiency working with AI tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT) to build and automate — comfortable using them for coding, analysis, and process automation, not just Q&A
• Advanced Excel skills
• Strong written and verbal communication; able to distill fast-moving information into concise, decision‑ready color for PMs
• Detail‑oriented and composed under pressure, with the judgment to elevate and the initiative to own problems end‑to‑end

Preferred Qualifications

• Listed options trading experience (strongly preferred)
• Hands‑on Python and SQL experience
• Familiarity with factor risk models and long/short portfolio construction concepts